I doubt it was completely fair for me to show up in the middle of the night, drop a revelation on Mable, and then promptly all but collapse into the blissful embrace of sleep myself. I'd like to say that I slept poorly, that the tension I had been feeling had kept me tossing and turning, just to make it seem like I wasn't dumping the problem onto someone else. Still, that would be lying. I was so worn out and exhausted that I slept deeply and completely. My body was simply too worn out and exhausted to do anything else.

When I blearily opened my eyes several hours later, the sun was well and fully up in the sky and shining through the windows. At some point during the hours I slept, the calendar had been taken from my blobby grasp and I myself had been repositioned into the embrace of one of the large, fluffy pet-cushion-styled beds. Blinking the sleepiness from my eyes and rubbing at my face with both hands as I struggled back into the world of the alert and awake, I jumped slightly in surprise when I turned my head and found Bibarel staring at me from an uncomfortably close distance. Really, it was a few inches away from me at most, his buck-toothed visage resting on the edge of the bed!

As if noticing my stirring, he eventually moved back a little, rising up to stand, "Mornin', Ditto." That slow, goofy drawl called out to me, and after a friendly wave he started to meander away from me and toward the door. "Mable said to go and get her when 'ya wake up, so I was just keepin' a lookout for when you were gonna be ready. Sorry if I startled 'ya." Bibarel opened the door and left the room in short order after my mumbled greeting in response, and I was left with a minute to get myself together and sort my thoughts.

I wasn't the best at rolling right out of bed and being peppy and prepared for the day, after all. I oozed my way out of the comfortable bedding with reluctance, my body protesting with a desperate desire to simply roll over and go back to sleep, no matter how late in the day it was. That was until an absolutely uproarious growling emitted from my stomach, the realization of gnawing hunger pushing away any lingering sleepiness and replacing it with an intense desire for food.

Not a single bite had entered my belly since lunch the day before! I know it doesn't sound that bad to miss a few meals, but I'm a growing Pokémon and I need my food! And I had done all that transforming and battling in the process, it was little wonder that my stomach felt like it was trying to declare independence and start eating the rest of me out of pure revenge since this was the first time I had missed even a single meal since I hatched.

"Well, good morning to you too, trouble maker." Mable's kindly, slightly amused tone drew my attention to the doorway. At some point while I slept she had made herself presentable, looking like her usual casual style rather than sleepily bedraggled. I suddenly felt nervous, wondering how the day was going to go after I just turned up like that in the middle of the night. She didn't seem to be upset, at least, as she offered the same kindly smile she always did and made a beckoning gesture toward me. "Come on, let's get some breakfast in you. Even if it's more like lunch for everyone else. You've slept half a day away."

I hopped up almost before I could think about it, my body jumping ahead of my brain as I rushed across the room. Making it to the kitchen, there was a small mound of tantalizingly familiar blue, round-bodied berries resting on the table. It was likely that Mable was going to try and help me up, but I wasn't even patient enough to wait. I tensed my body and hopped from the floor to a chair and then up onto the table, immediately stuffing a berry in my mouth. That's the stuff!

The sugary taste and the refreshing juices that were squished out as I crushed the berry in my mouth were so pleasantly refreshing, and I just couldn't help myself from scarfing them down with an embarrassing lack of restraint. I polished off a couple more berries in the short moments it took Mable to pour herself a mug of coffee and cross the kitchen to take a seat. Even that only took the ravenous edge off my hunger, rather than satiate me. I did slow my pace, feeling self-conscious with the amused stare my hungry display had earned me. "No wonder you're starving, I was wondering what was keeping you busy when you didn't show up for dinner last night. That's not like you at all." Mable teased with a gentle laugh.

I also noted that when she came to the table, she had a pen and a small paper notepad, the sort that you could easily tuck into your pocket with each page just being a few inches long. Right. I had revealed that I had at least some basic knowledge on writing, so of course she was going to have questions for me.

My stare wasn't exactly subtle, and neither was the fact that my eating had slowed down while I was looking at the notepad, so Mable noticed my reaction right away. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not mad at you or anything! Just a little surprised after last night. But you can finish eating before I ask anything. Don't need you splattering berry juices everywhere. Anyway, after you all but passed out on the kitchen floor, your little Pidgey friend did much the same, though she woke up earlier than you managed to. I gave the Pokémon Ranger station a call, and they agreed to take a look at the Santalune Forest. It turns out that they had been getting odd reports after all, but it was about how there was an odd lack of Kakuna and Beedrill in several of the usual places nearby they would be gathering, but the Weedle population was all but untouched."

That group of trainers probably thought that it wasn't worth it to try and evolve the Weedle when they could just sneak off with the Beedrill and the nearly uselessly immobile Kakuna. After all, I hadn't seen any of them in the clearing that the Vespiquen had been luring the Beedrill toward, so it was likely that whatever scent they were using to lure Pokémon in wasn't effective on the Weedle. I continued eating while Mable spoke, and I was glad to have the excuse to avoid having to answer almost immediately.

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"What possessed you to go all the way out to Santalune Forest, Ditto? Don't think I'm completely clueless as to all the practice battling and training you do around here, so I know you've got at least a little bit of battler's blood in you, but you've needed healing attention several times just from your little scuffles on the pasture!" Mable's voice had shifted into an odd mixture of chastisement and concern all at once, "Don't tell me you got too big for your britches after you came in first place in that little battle tournament we had with the kids? I swear! If I had known what you were up to, I'd have been worried sick! The forest is dangerous! Thank goodness you made it back alright."

Right. Scratch 'fight with Noctowl' off the list of things to discuss with Mable if at all possible. I had already taken the lesson on danger to heart even before she started her scolding, but I'd likely be in for an extended lecture if she heard what happened in that battle. I rubbed at the back of my head with a sheepish expression on my face. "I thought I could handle it..." 'Ditto Dit-to...' I dropped my gaze off to one side, avoiding Mable's stare.

After a few seconds, the firmness eased out of her expression, and Mable sighed heavily. I wasn't sure if it was at me, or something else. "I know you're still a little wild-child, and you're not likely to hang around at the pasture forever. You've obviously got more fire in you than my Bibi does." At the sound of his name, a lazy-sounding 'Baaarel?' sounded out as the Pokémon in question peeked around a corner and glanced inquisitively at his trainer. When she didn't address him further, he shrugged and lay down unconcernedly, sprawled on the floor like a throw rug.

Mable gave the beaver Pokémon a gentle smile, before turning her attention back to me as she continued. "Still, you're not nearly hardy enough to be out on your own just yet. At least, in my eyes. You're obviously allowed to leave if you want to! I won't try and keep you tied down here, since I've clearly decided that my battling days are behind me. Otherwise, I'd offer to catch you myself." The smile she offered suddenly seemed rather sad. "I just don't have the spirit of battling in me after I gave up on my gym challenge. I always thought about going back to finish it off, even if it wouldn't be official after all these years, but I'm too settled in here. Besides, who else would put up with all you little troublemakers if I decided I wanted to take a vacation?" The short laugh she gave dispelled the brief hints of a poor mood.

I hadn't even considered Mable having an interest in catching me! She hadn't ever seemed overly fussy about my appearance here on the pasture, but I suppose at the end of the day I was still a relatively rare Pokémon. I respected the fact that she had treated me the same as everyone else, and even more that she didn't try to force the issue because she thought we wouldn't be a good match for each other. I tried to picture it in my mind, Mable being my trainer, but I just could never see her as the type who would be eager to go have an adventure with her being as tied down to the pasture as she was. That's not even taking into account her general demeanor and kindly attitude. It sounded like going on an adventure with your mother! It just would be weird, right?

"That said, I want to be clear that you're more than welcome here. You may have only showed up here out of the blue a week ago or so, but you've melded right in with our little family. I don't know if you've noticed, but you've stirred up the beginnings of a battling craze with all your practice with that Pidgey, battling in the sky where everyone can watch. The Azurill twins are already a handful enough, and now they're terrorizing the Lotad to become the little princesses of the pond. Even a couple of the Bidoof are skipping their afternoon naps and getting into trouble!" She smiled despite the supposed complaints she was presenting, reaching over to pluck one of the last Oran berries off the table and taking a bite out of it herself. Huh, I guess there's no reason trainers can't eat berries too.

After a pause to eat, she continued, gesturing with the half-eaten berry. "What I'm trying to say is that you're helping to make this place a little more lively. I can tell you've got a drive that makes you want to be strong... but you don't have to be in such a hurry about it. Build it up, brick by brick, and I'm sure you'll be that star battler you want to be eventually. You did good with that gal the other day, Annabelle, so why don't we keep trying to get you involved in some of the youngster's battles to work you into it?"

I stared up at Mable, and I still just couldn't fathom how she was able to be such a pillar to the Pokémon around here, all by herself. Sure, she had Bibarel to help out around here, but she was just a lone woman taking care of this place all by herself. I hadn't ever seen a day where she just went to town and had a day off to relax. Early every morning she was out feeding the whole pasture, and how much free time could she really get during the day when she had to supervise everything around here? I always had a level of respect toward her due to her kindness toward Pokémon, but even with everything she did, she went out of her way to comfort me and try to help me with what I wanted on top of everything else? It only made my feelings of respect deepen. Mable was someone who cared about Pokémon, purely and deeply. I decided that I was going to do my best to help out more while I was here, just out of a sense of gratitude.

Mable's voice jarred me from my thoughts, now that the berries had vanished from the table, and she pushed the notepad and pen across the table toward me. "Now, why don't you tell me what happened yesterday? After all, last night you were in really rough shape, and I want to know how you found out about a huge Beedrill and Kakuna swarm by sheer happenstance." I picked up the pen and struggled to rein it under control with my blobby appendage, clicking it and pressing it to the page. I did feel as if I owed her an explanation, especially after she passed on my warning without hesitation, so I was going to tell her everything. Well, almost everything. I already decided I wasn't going to tell her about the Noctowl incident if I could avoid it. I didn't want to endure even more of her concern and the further lecture that was likely to accompany it.